Fabrication of flexible panel with reinforcing ribs

Abstract

Flexible, reinforced paneling produced by molding a sheet of stretch reorientable plastics material including a plurality of reinforcing ribs and stretching the sheet along one axis to elongate it and simultaneously bring the reinforcing ribs into a reinforcement configuration with respect to the sheet.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. The method of fabricating a flexible reinforced panel, which comprises the steps of: (a) molding the panel from a stretch reorientable plastics material with a plurality of segmented ribs thereon in linear alignment; and   (b) stretching the molded panel along only one axis at a right angle to the linear alignment of said segmented ribs to elongate said panel and draw said segmented ribs closer to one another in said linear alignment;   whereby the drawing together of said segmented ribs provides reinforcement for said flexible panel.   
     
     
       2. The method of claim 1 wherein said reinforcing segmented ribs are positioned in a plurality of rows on said panel. 
     
     
       3. The method of claim 2 wherein the segmented ribs of each row are in linear alignment. 
     
     
       4. The method of claim 2 wherein the ribs of each succeeding row are staggered with respect to the segmented ribs of each preceeding row. 
     
     
       5. The method of claim 1 wherein said panel is molded with reinforcing edge members. 
     
     
       6. The method of claim 5 wherein said reinforcing edge members are disposed at a right angle with respect to said reinforcing segmented ribs. 
     
     
       7. The method of claim 6 wherein said reinforcing segmented ribs include members which are attached to said reinforcing edge members. 
     
     
       8. The method of claim 1 wherein said reinforcing segmented ribs have different lengths.